Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-07-22
IN THE EARTH'S BOWELS.
EXPERIENCE OF FOUR MEN BURIED A
Quarter OF 4 MILE DEEP.

Them and Death story of Charles Goatch,
One Of Those Caught in a Chamber OF the
Alta Mine When II Was Flooded Prayers
offered by Women During the Hours Be
fore the Rescue Was Accomplished.
A man with a big white hat. a fan
mel shirt, and heavy mountain suit of
clothes on sat in the rcadng-room of
McCoy's Hotel last evening. He was
a restless kind of man. He wandered
to the newspaper files. roamed over to
the ice-water tank. over to the cigar
stand, and finally he sat down and
began TO smoke. Something in his
appearance attracted the attention of
another man, who happened in, and
he walked mp to the first individual
and said: Your name is Charley
Goatch if mistake not. You were
once in Vrg MA City You worked in
the Southend ' zines. didn't you?" The
man rose and ind Gated with nod of
the head that his qucStioner was'right.
Mr.. Goatch Is man of fifty or more.
He had worked in the Bonanza mines
for years, and was known as faithful
servant at - day for eight hours
work-threc eight-hour shifts. The
man who had interrupted his reverie
was recognized as having been con-
nected with the Virginia City papers.
and the two sat down for chat Mr..
Goatch said: You know when the
Bonanza began to peter well, then
i went down to work for Supernten-
dent Boyle mt the Alta. That's away
down, you know. below Gold Ill. |
saw the Trbunc's story about that old
Mammoth Cave i'm Kentucky. OF
course its u wonder / never was in it,
although I've lived half my life in caves;
but If the man who wrote that story
would come 10 me could tell a story
that would make his hair grayer than
mine You remember the story of the
Alta Mine? You were there.
Great Scott! were you one of those
four men?" was asked
Il was. Didn't YOU ever know it ?
Look at my ha.r.'
The miner was, indeed. perma-
nently gray.
you couldn't get me into the Mann
moth or any other cave now" he said.
Il wouldn't 20 into a mine for 81 000,-
600 unless | could see bdcket and
rope.
And then the miner told his story.
In 1873 he was working in the Alta
Mine, at Virginia City, New. The
mine was an assessment proposition
that is it was worked by contributions
of stockholders, enforced, of course.
by law. Not dollar of bullion had
ever come out. yet assessments had
sent the shaft down 1850 feet and put
up plant in machinery worth $3.50.
000 Drifts were run one hundred
feet to lap the edge. and at each of
chamber.
The Alta Mine was ALWAYS full of
water said the miner. "She was the
wettest thing I'd ever worked in The
big pump, that cost $4,000, had more
than she could do without driving TO
keep the water down. 1t was in May,
1873, that blast down on the l,750
Embossed water-pocket that drove
everybody to the cages. They rushed
up the shaft and were all right. But
nobody seemed TO remember little
shift of four men at work in south
cross-cut from the l.6j0-level. We
was drivin' in to catch the foot wall of
the ledge. and to do that we ran a
halfway uprase. III just draw YOU
little sketch here to show YOU what
I'm coming at.
you see the shaft IS perpendicular
], go feet down. At the 1850 stat on
our cross-cut goes Off on an upraise.
You see the little chamber where we
were at work. Now, when the blast
blew ut the |, $50 unloosed the water
and the flood came it rose so fast in
the main shaft that the men who knew
all about il had hard work to get away.
In the excitement we were forgotten.
The water rose in the shaft to $50 in
no time and came into our cross cut.
The men on top sent down cages for
us, bat before they could get there the
water washed ahead of them.
just then the big pump, under all
the extra stain on it, broke down, and
every body said the four men left in the
mine would be drowned was one
of the four. Bill Benthan was shift
boss. and jim Allen aud Phil Dough.
erty were the other two. We had set
the diamond on two drills in the face
of the cross-cut, when Jim Allen says:
It's kind @ close in here Dougher-
" stepped down the drift about fifty
feot and yelled: My God, boys!
W.tcr The cross-cut is flooded, and
the water is coming up an inch min
uter Bill Benthan jumped down the
incline, and there she was-water com
ing mp like an overflowed sewer. Bill